Ruthless People

Ruthless People. 1986 Touchstone Pictures.
Starring: Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater, Anita Morris, Bill Pullman, William G. Schilling
Directors: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker & Jerry Zucker
Available at Amazon as a single disc, or in a two-fer with Down and Out in Beverly Hills.

While having lunch with his mistress Carol (Morris), millionaire Sam Stone (DeVito) explains in great detail his plan to murder his wife Barbara (Midler) just to get her money. While he has made a small fortune himself, Barbara is the herress to a much larger one. Sam despises Barbara, and only married her for the money. Arriving home, Sam finds the house empty. He receives a call from an anonymous man who explains that "they" have kidnapped Barbara, and Sam must pay a small ransom, or she will be killed. Barbara's life is also in danger if Sam contacts the police or media, which naturally, he does immediately!

Barb's kidnappers are Ken (Reinhold) and Sandy Kessler (Slater), a poor couple eager for revenge against Sam. Sam "made his fortune" by stealing a fashion idea from Sandy, as well as the Kesslers' life savings to help produce it. Barbara gets locked in the Kesslers' basement, where she is more than a handful to the amateur kidnappers. Their problems only increase when it becomes obvious that Sam doesn't want his wife back, and is trying everything possible to goad the Kesslers into killing Barbara. The kidnappers may be desperate for money, but murder was never in the cards, despite the threatening message. Ken starts offering to drop the ranson, all the way down to ten grand, but Sam still refuses.

As for Carol, she and her boyfriend Earl (Pullman) believe Sam plans to throw his wife's body from the Hollywood Hills late at night. Earl lies in wait with a video camera, unwittingly capturing a rendezvous in a car between a prostitute and the chief of police. The woman screams a lot, and Earl mistakenly thinks the murder is happening right in front of him. Sam gets an anonymous copy from Carol, and after his reaction, sends another to the police chief. Thinking he's being blackmailed, the chief asks what Carol what she wants, and she says the answer is obvious: arrest Sam Stone. Planning to plant evidence in Sam's place, the chief is surprised when a bottle of chloroform and pictures with Sam and Carol are found. Sam is arrested, and he now faces the dilemma of having to get Barbara back to prove his innocence.

But...things are never that easy.

Recommended movie, although not as zany as the "normal" Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker movie.